Godin ACS

For my music style is the best, I play with a Rolland conected to a harmonyser conected to a Solton, and I play every weekend 3 hour a night and have no problems with sound or performances.

Yes this guitar is made for live playing!! My guitar is 3 years old and I play every weekend,You can depend on it, with out backup.

I have been playin 35 year, I own a Ovation, Takamini, yamaha,Fender est. Fender tele.I buy again , and again this guitar, I love the midi features and the acustic sound.
For my music there is no comparation with other guitar for now.
Needs a better look and better case

Canadian made nylon electric. Equalization, volume, program change co ntrols all mounted on the front of the guitar, easily accessable though. Maple top with some figure and basswood body. RMC pickup. See the website for specs. Tuners are a bit of an issue though. There seems to be some binding or resistance on the tuning keys for the low strings. The nylon strings tune smoothly. Doesn't really affect intonation that I can tell so far. Set up and finish are all nicely done with a very nice feel in the hands. I have an Epiphone CEC nylon electric and there is alot to compare between it and the Godin.

I like to play fingerstyle and this guitar falls well into that style of playing. I also like to play jazz on this guitar as well. I run it through an Ernie Ball volume pedal an Electro Harmonix USA Small Stone Phaser and two Fender Pro Junior Tube amps. The results are very pleasing indeed. You can adjust the equalization and volume on the guitar which is very convenient and it is clear and loud without the piezo effect. Again comparing the guitar with my Epiphone CEC which has a piezo pick up. The guitar is versatile but much different in sound than the Epiphone CEC. Overall I have more flexibility with the Godin. I really like the tones you can get with it.

The set up from the dealer is satisfactory, the action is good with no buzzing and plenty of room to dig in a bit. As mentioned earlier the pickup used in this guitar is a perfect match (no piezo noise), I haven't tried it yet but it supposedly tracks wonderfully with the Roland guitar synths which is one of the reasons I bought it.
The maple top on this guitar has some wood coloration down the middle but I attribute this to the nature of the maple that is used and it doesn't really detract from the appearance but rather gives the guitar identifiable character. Previous reviews make note of the plastics used for covers and on jacks which I have to agree with. The price of the guitar, IMHO, justifies a little better quality in some of the material used for covers and jacks. How that would affect the cost of the guitar I wouldn't know. I am satisfied with the layout and set up of the guitar.

This model of guitar is used by professional players(which I am not) and I have no reason to doubt that with common sense care it would not hold up to gigging. The hardware seems somewhat flimsy but again with reasonable care and playing should hold up. I would certainly depend on the guitar for gigs but I would not gig without some back up irregardless of the guitar I played.

The guitar is new and I haven't had to contact the company. I would though if something was drastically wrong.

I have been playing off and on for 20 years. I have several name brand electrics and acoustic guitars, the Godin ACS is my second nylon string electric and I am very inspired when I play it. I would by it again if lost or stolen, if I could afford it of course, it's not a cheaply priced guitar. I bought the guitar site unseen online and that is really risky business when it comes to guitars. I consider myself lucky to have such a nice guitar. I chose the Godin for it's versatility and reputation and sound of course, thank you Steve Stevens for "Flamenco A Go Go". It lives up to it's reputation in my opinion.

This has the standard synth access configuration: 3 band eq with switchable mids, tranducer volume, synth volume, program change buttons, etc. It's black with a gloss finish; a very elegant looking guitar.

As soon as I bought this guitar I put on a new set of the factory recommended strings (pro-arte(sp?)hard tension). It has a nice tone but a bit thin; not as punchy or colorful as I'd like. To be fair, it's a nylon string guitar and I tend to play with the flesh of my fingers. Classical players tend their nails carefully for a reason. It seems though like the newer semi-hollow Multiacs I've played have more punch. I have not used it yet as a synth controller, but I'm assuming the strengths of the guitar will come to the front when I do.

The guitar ranks highly here. Most of the parts quality, fit and finish elements for a guitar in this price point are great. There are no detectable flaws; a very tight, well made guitar.

I've owned the guitar for a few months now and have no reason to suspect that it will not last as long as I refrain from backing over it with my truck.

I've had no reason to send it in for service.

I love the look and feel of this guitar. As I said, its sound is thinner than I'd like but overall I like it very much. I saw at least one complaint elsewhere that the intonation on these guitars is fatally flawed. My guitar seems fine in this respect. Due to the subtle nature of nylon strings, any off axis pulling, pushing or twisting can create intonation problems, though this may not be responsible for other folks comments.

See www.godinguitars.com for details

Sound is very good though it's a bit flat. A spruce top would probably make it sound better. I'm not a big basswood fan and having a thick maple top with nylon strings driving it essentially means the piezo defines the tone...

Action is good (not great). Fit of parts is excellent. Finish is good though there is is a noticable ridge on the neck where the ebony meets the body.

Seems really well made except for the output section in which a plastic 1/4" and 13pin jack is mounted to a flimsy plastic cover. This is an accident waiting to happen in my opinion. I would have seperated the piezo output and mounted a jack directly into the wood.

Guitar is dead without batteries.

Phone # not listed on their web site. The only email address is sales@godinguitars.com. Replys are fairly slow. I finally called the dealer and he gave me his tech support number. Once you get that number, the support is good.

The weak link of this guitar by far is it's poor intonation. Godin made a fatal design flaw by having the RMC bridge inserts all exactly the same distance from the nut. Even a single piece bridge insert of a classical guitar is angled so that the high strings are closer to the nut than the bass strings. What this means is that the guitar plays very flat on the G, B, and E strings as you go up the neck. If you play above the 12th fret, you can forget about playing octaves or closed voice jazz chords. Even single notes have to be bent to be in tune. Since the design uses individual inserts for each strings, they could have cut the bridge in a way that would have compensated for intonation. If you play mostly triads (barre chords) or play mostly in lower positions, this probably won't hamper you but if you play up the neck at all, you will probably find the intonation to be unsuitable. I have not decided whether to return it or not. I have tried 4 ACS guitars and they all have the same problem so it's not just a single flakey guitar either.

By the way, I've been playing 27 years. I'm a jazz guitarist. You can hear clips of my stuff at www.jackzucker.com.

Others have gone into detail about the features.. 1/4" acoustic output and 13-pin Roland GK Compatible output. Guitar has a solid maple top and a basswood body. The guitar feels very solid, and won't feedback! The neck is wide and thin, allowing you to move all around the neck with ease. Guitar has a longer scale than Classical, allowing looser string tension for even greater playing ease. Super-quick tracking thanks to the RMC pickup system - much much faster and better than the Roland GK-2.

The nylon-string sound is amazing through this guitar, and you can plug it into a huge PA system without worrying about feedback. I own a Godin Multiac, and plugged in, I can't hear a difference between the Multiac and the ACS. Through the Roland VG-88, the ACS really accels. It almost seems like the ACS was designed specifically around synth guitar purposes. The solid top/body transmits a very minimal amount of acoustic sound. This is GOOD! When using the Roland VG-88, you can use all sorts of alternate tunings without hearing the original note. Sympathetic Transmissions are nearly eliminated altogether. I really like the smooth sound of this guitar, and how it sounds through the Roland VG-88. This is a MUST HAVE if you own the VG-88 or a GR-33.

The guitar is BEAUTIFUL!!! No complaints - only praise. They did an excellent job selecting the wood, and finishing the guitar. Mine is finished in a smooth transparent semi-gloss.

Guitar is very solid! It is made for live playing. Everything about the guitar seems durable - much more so than the Multiac. I would not gig with any guitar without a backup. Strap Buttons are strap-lock compatible.

Godin has always answered my e-mail in the past.

For the money, I think this is the best Synth-Guitar on the market... wait... let me clarify that. I own a Godin LGX-SA, and a Godin Multiac, and I bought the ACS kind of on a whim. I was pretty unhappy with the Multiac when used through the VG-88, because I like to use alternate tunings. The Multiac is VERY loud for it's size, and it was a pain to use alternate tunings because no matter how loud the monitors were, you'd still hear some of the original notes since the guitar is held about a foot away from your ear. If you turn up the monitors too loud, the Multiac would feedback. I bought the ACS to see if it would help and WOW! Now the Multiac is collecting dust and might go up for sale, soon. Plugged into a regular acoustic amp, the RMC pickup produces a wonderfully rich sound - much more than you'd expect from a solid-body guitar. I'm very pleased with my new purchase, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good electric classical or synth guitar. I can't say that I dislike anything about it. I would definitely buy another if it were stolen. I guess my only gripe would be how hard it is to find these guitars. I have about 4 Godin dealers in my town, and two of them didn't have ANY Godin guitars in stock, the other two had very few, and no synth-access guitars. I had to find this guitar mail-order and buy it sight unseen. I was happy with it, I just wish I could have tried it first.

I would like to add to my already review of this guitar. I think that the overall fit, finish , and action should be a 9.5! I guess I didnt understand some of the ratings etc. As I stated before, this guitar is just awesomly beautiful. The bowed neck was fixed with a few turns of the truss rod. And I think the straplocka are Schallers, not Dunlops. I think the slider controls work smoothly and are designed very well for the way this guitar works.

Again, this guitar sounds really nice and fat even when not using the synth controller feature. The mid notch works great when you use different set ups, PA verses amp etc.I even use it with an old Traynor Bloc 50R through the effects return jack and it sounds better to me than using it through my Trace Elliot TA 50R. I think because the Traynor has a 10" speaker and can handle the lows etc. from the GR 30 better, or at least a bit louder too. Through the PA though, Watch Out!!!! It"s big and bad!!!!!!!!!

Just the sticking nut is all that is really bad about this guitar. Thats a problem thats easily remidied as far as it goes. I"ll just have my local Luthier give it the super set up tune up, and I think it will be as good as they come. The neck pocket also is very tight fitting and looks perfect.

again, I would use this beautiful guitar without a back up, only bring a spair 9V battery!!!!!

These guys are neat to deal with. They even sent me a cool t-shirt when I hinted around. It was the wrong size but sure looks great on my girlfriend!!! Thanks again Mario!!! I do wish they would of included instructions on re-stringing it as it is my first nylon string guitar, and also stated what gauge strings and type it came with so I can get spairs etc.

I LOVE IT!!! It"s a great pleasure to play and to just sit around and noodle on. It is very inspiring to play and gets your creative juices flowing.

1999, Canadian made, USA assembled 22 frets nicely finished maple top on a basswood body guitar volume,treble,mid/w/notch,bass, synth volume RMC electronics w/ battery I ordered a custom finish (black) has sound chambers,but body is almost solid all the way through came with a nice hardshell case

is a new style for me, I bought a Roland GR 30 guitar synth with this guitar in mind I plug it into the PA/ and or a Trace Elliot TA50R acoustic amp It is really quiet and sounds fat and rich even without the GR 30 It is a real gas to play the synth sounds and to layer with it I love this guitar and / GR 30 set up

when I recieved this guitar the neck was bowed like crazy making the action bad. you could not play the upper frets at all, and the lower frets was always outa tune also the electronics seemed to be bad, though they finally worked properly after about two weeks, The volume pot scratched horribly and caused it to short out and become distorted the frets seem flawless and really smooth. The nut is the bad part on this guitar, it wont stay in tune for anything. The strings are burried into the nut causing the strings to be pinched, preventing them from staying in tune for more than two minutes max.

this guitar seems very stable and I think it can take the road with no problems per say the parts and hardware seem high quality throughout the strap buttons are the locking type , but they dont include the mates for the strap!!! mine are black too! I think they are Dunlops I take really good care of my instruments and can say I could depend on this guitar I would use it without a backup, really cant afford another anyway!! It"s not my main guitar, just an embelishment one( wish I could play it like Steve Stevens on his Flamingo a Go Go CD!)Great CD... get it!!

Mario at the company has always returned my e-mails and has been really supportfull I am currently trying to get them to warrantee the sticking nut here in the town where I live by a professional Luthier. but they want me to send it to the factory direct for the repaires. ( I think it"s a bad call on there part as it would cost me more to send it to them and then have to wait for it, than to just take it twelve miles from home!) That is my only "real" complaint with this guitar company.I understand there policy, but again I have special circumstances with distance etc. it has a one year warranty

I have been playing for 25 years I own a PRS custom 22, A Jeff Beck signature Strat, G and L ASAT, Schecter bass I wish I would of asked if I could get it repaired in my home town if needed. Where I bought it from is a twelve hour round trip by auto this guitar is BEAUTIFUL! it looks just like the one Steve Stevens has in their adds didnt consider any others, I demoed the GR 30 with the ACS and loved it, I also dig the vibe of it and am pleased that someone finally came out with this type of guitar I only wished it would of came with the other half of the straplocks that fit the strap, and under my conditions that I live so far from the nearest dealer, they would of let me get the nut repaired at my local shop. The Luthier there is a Fender Gold leval repairman and does plenty world famous guitarist repairs and set ups. But all in all, this guitar turns heads! I play it mostly at Church on the Worship team and it works great for ministry times. Again I"m well pleased that this guitar was conceved!!

I'm submitting this to simply say that I jumped the gun on my earlier ACS review. Most of the difficulty and disastisfaction I had was the result of the guitar being left out of its case a lot by the first owner in a very wet area of the country. Godin is graciously doing the work to make the instrument right at a very reasonable charge. I apologize and encourage others to consider Godin synth access instruments.

1999 model with parts made in Canada and assembled in USA. 22 frets. Maple top on basswood - solid classical guitar with sound chambers! Controls are bass, mid, treble, mid-sweep switch, midi level control and volume for guitar. Straight 1/4 inch out plus midi out. Mahogany & Ebony classical style neck.

I bought with the soul reason of having better tracking/triggering to my GR-30 guitar synth. For that purpose it gets a superior A plus rating. I will primarily run it through the house system. So far it sounds better than than reviews I've read. With the right EQ plus reverb, you get a warm classical sound. You add the GR-30 and the sky is the limit for solo worked.

Okay Mr. Godin - for a one of a kind product and in the price range its listed for, the work is sloppy. Gaps between wood and electronic cover plates. Areas you can see where stain is missing. I'm actuall the second owner and I think I can see why. The action is horrid for a $1000 instrument. I'm looking at paying a local luthier $100 to get it set up correctly so I can use the upper frets. Sorry, but its being honest and simply because mine is this way doesn't mean all are. I bought mine sight unseen going by reviews, etc.. Now, the overall finish is smooth and flawless, its just in the cavity areas we see a "care less" approach. Neck joint (yes, it's a bolt on) appears to be tight and the bridge/saddle looks sweet too. All hardware appears to be quality worhty of the price, but as mentioned in another review the plastic covers are really sad for the cost of the instrument. Let's at least see some gold plated pieces.

I think the guitar will stand up, but the electronics have a mind of their own don't they? All I can say is, "we shall see." Antyhing midi related I trust for about a year tops and then look for glitches. Right now - we are doing just fine. I will depend on it, for few of us can afford backup's.

So far there's been no need to call them. I am temepted to ask them about the poor action.

I've played guitar for 35 years. I own an $1800 Yamaha Pacifica USA-2 and a $1250 Takamine Flat-top. Again, I wish I would have asked about the action, but perhaps the first owner didn't play that much in the higher frets. It's going to be a fun guitar and again, the way it controls my Roland gear makes it worth everything.

This is a Canadian made solid nylon string with a guitar synth pickup as well as a transducer. The neck is a bit narrower than a classical and has a slight camber. As a keen steel-string and electric player, but a reluctant classical player it's excellent. It looks the business with a solid maple top on basswood body. The transducer has volume, bass, mid and treble controls with a switch to alter the mid frequency. There are two buttons for the GK2A equivalent synth pickup plus a volume for that. The whole thing is in a silky, natural finish. Would be difficult to alter the set-up, but you wouldn't want to as it is wonderful. The gig-bag is a bit flimsy and this will need to be replaced with a hard case. My only misgivings are that the slider controls look like they come from a #10 walkman and the plate holding the jack socket and synth socket is cheap black plastic.

Well, Chet here we come for a start. This is miles nicer than Gibson's effort which feels very unwieldy to me. Using it with a GR30 which it triggers to perfection - also many of the sounds mix really well with classic guitar. You can do almost anything with this because of the GR30 sounds. I do play all guitars with fingers rather than a pick. As a straight ahead electro it sounds just fine in a Fender valve combo.

Excellent, no room for improvement. All around, it has an air of craftsmanship, only let down by the sliders and socket mounting plate, which do not appear to be of the same quality as the wood or the tuners which work really well.

Looks ideal for many years use. As the rest of it is so sound, I'm sure the sliders will be o.k. - they just don't quite look it. I don't think electro acoustic nylon guitars work with a band - I had a Takamine EN60C for a few days and bass or drums just made it resonate horribly. The Godin will be fine as it is virtually solid. I wouldn't worry about a back-up - you don't break strings on nylon guitars!

No need yet. The warranty is 1 year I think and the dealer seemed supportive, although I've not had anything from them BUT I think theyve been around for 30 years+

I've been playing 20 years. I think, at last I've found the rig for me, together with the GR30. I always liked nylon strings and have learned some classical, but I never really liked an all-out classical guitar as I began on electric and have continued with a Strat, Rick 360/12 and various acoustics. I just love the fluid feel of this one and the very expressive range of sounds available with and without the GR30. I think nylon is ideal for synth trigger as there's more room on the fingerboard, and fingerstyle suits many of the sounds you want to use (e.g. piano, organ etc) things like trumpet go well with a mix of single string runs and double stops. There isn't anything else quite like it and the price is reasonable. If feels nice to hold and play and whilst it could be more fancy and the controls could be more solid, it is the minimalist look which partly attracted me to it. I did look at the Multiac which is semi solid and that certainly has a more natural acoustic tone, but I didn't like the feel of it as much and I reckon it might feed back more easily. Also, its about 60% more expensive!